Police swarm after police car's windshield explodes

ELLEN F. O'CONNELL/Staff Photographer
Police position themselves behind cars parked along the east side of Alter Street between West Third and Fourth streets with guns aimed toward a building on the opposite side of the street Wednesday.

ELLEN F. O'CONNELL/Staff Photographer
With rifle in hand, a trooper from Troop N arrives on the scene of a police incident on Alter Street between Third and Fifth streets in Hazleton on Wednesday.

Scores of police officers scoured a neighborhood in the Alter Street business district with guns drawn Wednesday after the rear window of an unmarked police vehicle "exploded as if shot out" while a Hazleton detective sat inside.

City police Chief Frank DeAndrea said the unnamed detective was not injured.

Police could not recall a similar incident in the past 15 years. However, DeAndrea said windows of unoccupied police vehicles parked outside City Hall have been shot out in the past two weeks.

DeAndrea said the detective's vehicle was parked at Fourth and Alter streets about 11:45 a.m. when the windshield "was shot with something. I'm just not sure what caliber, if it was a BB from a passing motorist."

Officers swept buildings on Alter Street, between Third and Fifth streets, after a report of shots fired was sent to Luzerne County 911. A radio transmission asked other officers for assistance.

Within five minutes, DeAndrea said, no less than 30 law enforcement officers converged at the location, set up a perimeter and got those outside into buildings for safety.

Alter Street was blocked between Third and Fifth streets. Access to the neighborhood also was blocked from a block east at Vine Street to a block west at Locust Street.

The city fire department assisted with setting up a perimeter.

DeAndrea said officers conducted a door-to-door sweep of any building in the trajectory of what could have been a bullet's path.

They focused on buildings on the west side of Alter Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. DeAndrea said some of the buildings are vacant and "havens" for criminals.

No shell casings, weapons or people with weapons were found at the scene, and it is unknown what was fired at the vehicle, DeAndrea said. He said there are also no known witnesses who recall hearing shots fired.

City police are still trying to find out what caused the window to explode.

The incident marks the third shooting investigation since the weekend.

On Saturday, Angel Villalobos, 19, was fatally shot and a still-unidentified 24-year-old man was wounded in the 500 block West Maple Street around 7:15 p.m.

On Monday afternoon, Joseph E. Babbitt III, formerly of Hazleton, allegedly shot a man from Northumberland County while in a vehicle at a restaurant parking lot off state Route 309.

DeAndrea said police are treating all three incidents "extremely" seriously. He feels the incidents are isolated and not related to each other.

City police officers were serving warrants in the city when the window explosion happened Wednesday, DeAndrea said. He said he does not believe anyone in the public had prior knowledge of the warrants being served and then targeted police.

"At the same time, it's Hazleton, it's possible anyone could decide to take a shot at a police car and run. I don't know how else to politely answer that without telling you the truth," he said when asked by a reporter Wednesday afternoon.

Officers and firefighters left the Alter Street neighborhood in an hour, and as they left many residents went outside, wondering what happened.

Christopher Dowdincan of Hazleton said he and his employees from CJ Home Improvement were working inside Pence's, located on Alter between Fourth and Fifth streets, when police swarmed the area.

Dowdincan said he sent an employee outside to get wood from his vehicle and after 15 minutes the employee never returned. Curious as to where his help went, Dowdincan said he went outside and saw his employee was pushed down the block by officers holding guns. Soon, more officers filled the area, holding assault rifles close to their bodies.

"It was wild," he said.

Sieara Zeoli of Hazleton said the recent increase in violent crime has scared many people, including herself.

Zeoli said she fears for the life of her child and her own, worrying that one of them may get shot while walking in the city. Zeoli said she is unsure why such violent crimes have plagued the area in the past few days.

DeAndrea thanked not only responding Hazleton police but also firefighters for responding immediately.

"HPD and HFD are sworn to protect the members of this community and we do so without swerving from the path of duty," he said.

DeAndrea also thanked other law enforcement agencies, noting there were nearly as many state police troopers at the scene as city officers. He said the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Luzerne County detectives and sheriff's office were all in Hazleton on Wednesday and all had members at the scene.

Police are looking through the vehicle for a projectile. If one is found it will be processed by a state police forensic services unit, DeAndrea said.

Police ask anyone with information on the case to call 570-459-4940.

achristman@standardspeaker.com

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